Air Force Forcing Diversity... Again

[Brett327]

Diversity initiatives aren't intended to mitigate racism or sexism. I think that's a giant red herring.

 

[phrogdriver]

It's a math "problem." The overwhelming majority of people in these MOSs/designators/whatever-the-air-force-calls-them are white men; by extension, the majority of people promoted will also be white men. The appropriate, and IMO only meaningful and enduring, way to address the issue is to improve community outreach programs starting in middle school and reaching through high school. If this initiative is as important to the AF (and other services) as the most senior leaders say it is, then these measures shouldn't be difficult.

The majority of promotees will indeed be white men. But I would contend that a lot of incompetent white men get selected on the basis of their superiors seeing themselves in those individuals and giving them a benefit of the doubt that they don't extend to others. It's human nature, and institutions have to make procedures and policies to insulate against that.

A common mistake is to think that "racism" or "discrimination" means one has to have a swastika tattoo and burn crosses. It happens in a lot more subtle ways. People take on protegees that are like them. People socialize more often with people who are like them. People place harsher judgments on people who are not--even for similar things. Those things add up over the course of careers to favor the majority, even if no conscious malice was intended.